Ocean Racing

In recent years, sailors from the small Middle Eastern nation of Oman have met with surprising success in a number of high-profile races, including the Tour de France à la Voile and the Extreme 40 Sailing Series. Not surprisingly, given the mores of that part of the world, these sailors have all been men. But that is beginning to change thanks to the efforts of Oman Sail.

The Corinthians Association announced the starting date for a new, U.S. Sailing-sanctioned Category 2 distance race that will begin on Sunday, July 27, 2008 in the waters off Stonington, Connecticut. The Corinthians teamed up with the Stonington Harbor Yacht Club and the Boothbay Yacht Club (in Booth Bay, Maine) to offer a 332-nautical mile distance race that will end in the fabled lobstering

It’s a funny thing: offshore sailing in the Midwest. But that’s exactly what the Chicago Yacht Club’s Race to Mackinac is, featuring 333 miles of sailing, often requiring sailors to negotiate a wide variety of wind and sea-state conditions en route to an island (Mackinac Island, that is) that doesn’t allow cars, but instead condones pedestrians, bicycles, and horse-drawn carriages. But that’s an

If you’re into Celtic punk, you’re familiar with the Dropkick Murphys song, “I’m Shipping up to Boston”, a tune that twangs many sailor’s heart strings for a bygone era of wooden ships, men of steel, and onboard accommodations that defined the term “lacking.” In this song, written by Woodie Guthrie, a fictitious sailor loses his leg climbing the topsails while sailing up to

If I’m not mistaken, more than one of the rock-star boats that were supposed to be making news are not. If I’m not further mistaken, quite a few of the usual suspects are missing from the ranks of the regulars.It’s a sign, but a sign of what? New boats are being built—in lesser numbers. Races are being sailed—with fewer boats at the higher end. And high-profile boats disappear for a

The Volvo Race will once again be making a stop in the United States, this time in the port of Miami. Organizers have announced that for the 2011-12 running, the fleet will finish there at the end of a leg beginning in Brazil.Miami will then serve as the jumping-off point for a transatlantic leg finishing in Lisbon. According to race organizers, Miami fought off a number of other North

No matter where you go in the world it’s “never like this” when they switch the weather on. So it goes with distance events as well. The 2010 edition of the Singlehanded Transpac has been slow going much of the time, with difficult seas and opposing sets kicked up by distant storms. A thirteen-day crossing is certainly not the best-possible time for a

On the evening of January 25th, sailors involved in the Barcelona World Race were chasing the leader Virbac-Paprec 3 south toward the Cape of Good Hope. Virbac-Paprec 3 had opened up its lead on the #2 boat Fonica, skippered by Michel Desjoyeaux and Francois Gabart, from 5 miles to over 40 miles, although a big high pressure system was working into their path,